Sweden

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 19, 2015

Gunmen shoot several people in restaurant on Hesingen island near Gothenburg, Sweden, killing at least two, in incident police characterize as gang-related. MORE

Mar. 19, 2015

Swedish Riksbank says that it has cut its main interest rate target again by 0.15 percentage points to minus 0.25 percent, move intended to head off deflationary pressures. MORE

Mar. 15, 2015

Sweden's prostitution law, which criminalizes purchase of sex while allowing its sale, has been considered a success but some say law is forcing women into more dangerous situations, and has increased discrimination and stigma attached to prostitution. MORE

Mar. 14, 2015

Swedish prosecutors, seeking to question Wikileaks founder Julian Assange before statute of limitations on 2010 rape allegations are reached, agree to conduct interview at Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where he has been living since 2012. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

Swedish central bank cuts its benchmark interest rate to minus 0.1 percent and announces bond-buying program to protect its economy. MORE

Jan. 3, 2015

Hundreds of Swedes gather outside Stockholm's royal palace to show support for Muslim residents after three suspected arson attacks on mosques; Syrian conflict has boosted number of asylum seekers in Sweden and famous Swedish tolerance is being tested; far-right, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats has grown despite fact that roughly one fifth of Sweden’s 9.6 million people were born abroad or to immigrant parents. MORE

Dec. 30, 2014

Room used as worship site by Muslims in Eslov, Sweden, is destroyed in fire, second time in past week that Islamic worship area is damaged by possible arson in country; far-right anti-immigration party is gaining popularity. MORE

Dec. 28, 2014

Main Swedish political parties say they have come to deal to preserve center-left government by adopting center-right budget for 2015; move, announced by Prime Min Stefan Lofven, forestalls early elections that were likely to have strengthened far right in the country. MORE

Dec. 27, 2014

Swedish officials condemn suspected arson attack at mosque that injured five people; action raises tensions in country where immigration is significant political issue; Prime Min Stefan Lofven says more must be done to stop attacks against Muslims and places of worship. MORE

Dec. 26, 2014

Swedish police are seeking arsonist who set fire to mosque in town of Eskilstuna; attack, which injured five people, came amid debate between country's far right and mainstream parties about liberal immigration policies. MORE

Dec. 17, 2014

Sweden formally asks United Nations General Assembly to reopen investigation into death of United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, whose plane went down over Zambia in 1961; official inquiries into details of crash and of his death have brought no conclusive answers. MORE

Dec. 16, 2014

NATO accuses Russia of posing danger to civil aviation in Baltic region after Sweden protests that Russian Air Force jet had flown too close to airliner and had turned off one of its location instruments. MORE

Dec. 4, 2014

Sweden’s minority center-left government falls after Prime Min Stefan Lofven fails to get budget through Parliament. MORE

Dec. 3, 2014

Far-right Sweden Democrats party says it will side with opposition to vote against proposed budget in attempt to force country's left-leaning minority government to resign; Prime Min Stefan Lofven appears to have limited options for response. MORE

Dec. 3, 2014

Swedish broadcaster SVT's decision to edit two scenes it considers racially offensive from 1969 television series based on Pippi Longstocking books by Astrid Lindgren has ignited national debate; move taps into growing and often uncomfortable discussion over ethnicity in country where small minority is just beginning to have a voice. MORE

Nov. 21, 2014

Swedish court upholds four-year-old order for the detention of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over accusations of sexual assault; ruling is bitter defeat for Assange, Australian who fled to Ecuadoran Embassy in London, as his lawyers seek to have order withdrawn. MORE

Nov. 15, 2014

Swedish officials say unknown vessel detected in waters off Stockholm in October was foreign submarine that had violated its territorial waters, but that they were unable to determine intruder's nationality. MORE

Oct. 31, 2014

Swedish government officially recognizes a state of Palestine, as new Prime Min Stefan Lofven ignores Israeli protests and follows through on a pledge he made at his inauguration; Palestinian leadership welcomes the move, which comes amid growing criticism and frustration in Europe and the United States of Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. MORE

Oct. 28, 2014

Small airport in northern Sweden is showcasing remote control technology that many expect will eventually transform the way air traffic is managed worldwide; air traffic controllers will 'virtually' guide daily flights. MORE

Oct. 25, 2014

Swedish authorities say that a military team that had included minesweepers, helicopters and ships had been called off after a search for a mysterious foreign submarine that never materialized. MORE

Oct. 22, 2014

Sweden has launched search team of 200 personnel aboard ships, helicopters and minesweepers to scour the Baltic Sea in search of unidentified foreign vessel suspected of being a Russian submarine; search, and its Cold War undertones, has proceeded for five days without result. MORE

Oct. 20, 2014

Swedish Navy ships and helicopters search coastal waters after military reportedly detects radio signals from Russian submarine there; development, if confirmed, would have far-reaching implications for highlighting how military tensions between Russia and West have escalated over the crisis in Ukraine. MORE

Oct. 7, 2014

Israel summons Swedish ambassador to protest announcement by new center-left government in Sweden that it intends to recognize state of Palestine; new Swedish Prime Min Stefan Lofven stated intention in his inaugural address. MORE

Oct. 4, 2014

Swedish Prime Min Stefan Lofven announces during his inaugural address to Parliament that Sweden will become the first major European Union country to recognize the state of Palestine; declaration is sure to draw criticism from Israel. MORE

Sep. 21, 2014

Op-Ed article by Hugh Eakin, senior editor at The New York Review of Books, contrasts approaches of Sweden and Norway to Syrian refugee crisis; notes Sweden has open-door policy, while Norway is not encouraging asylum-seekers, and they have come to embody two poles in debate over how to help refugees in the Middle East. MORE

Sep. 15, 2014

Left-leaning parties win slim but clear lead in Sweden's parliamentary elections, bringing country closer to center left after eight years of tax-cutting and free-market government; Sweden's far-right democrats become third force in country's politics, doubling their share of vote to 13 percent and setting stage to hold balance of power. MORE

Sep. 13, 2014

Swedish Prime Min Fredrik Reinfeldt's embrace of country's tradition of openness with respect to issue of immigration has put issue at center of upcoming elections; refugees from Syria and Iraq are pouring into Sweden at a record pace, and some of supporters of central-right government are deserting it for a populist, anti-immigrant alternative. MORE

Sep. 9, 2014

Center-right government of Swedish Prime Min Fredrik Reinfeldt is trailing left-leaning coalition less than a week before general election by five to ten percentage points in polls; country is sharply divided over issues like immigration and future of welfare state. MORE

Aug. 20, 2014

Jonas Bronck, who was born in 1600 in Komstad, Sweden, arrived 375 years ago as the first European in the Bronx, occasion that will be commemorated by descendants and dignitaries from both the United States and Sweden. MORE

Aug. 4, 2014

Officials report that American reconnaissance airplane crossed into Swedish airspace in July in attempt to escape approaching Russian fighter jets; incident, reminiscent of Cold War, illustrates growing tensions between West and Russia over Ukrainian conflict. MORE

Jul. 31, 2014

Stockholm Journal; young teacher Ebba Akerman hosts communal dinners in her Stockholm apartment to bring immigrants and native Swedes together to socialize in nation where tensions have risen; hundreds of people have signed up for Akerman's dinners and she has a backlog of people who want to participate. MORE

Jul. 17, 2014

Swedish court uphold its detention order on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, reaffirming legal basis for international warrant that has kept him hiding in Ecuadorean Embassy in London for two years. MORE

Jun. 29, 2014

May. 14, 2014

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration seems poised to embrace Sweden's Vision Zero traffic safety campaign to eliminate roadway deaths and serious injuries; two camps agree on policies like lowering speeds and expanding automated enforcement, but appear to diverge on significance of individual responsibility in street safety, both for drivers and pedestrians (Series: Life vs. Traffic). MORE

May. 13, 2014

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in bid to reverse generations of roadway unruliness, is putting Sweden's traffic safety approach at forefront of his transportation and policing agendas, targeting 2014 as first year with no traffic deaths; Swedish strategy Vision Zero has whittled fatalities to international low (Series: Life vs. Traffic). MORE

Apr. 21, 2014

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column underscores how decision by Sweden's Riksbank to start raising interest rates led to the country's economy stalling; contends it is an example of attitude common among monetary officials and commentators, who have a visceral dislike for low interest rates and easy money even when unemployment is high and inflation is low. MORE

Feb. 26, 2014

Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet publishes information linking former Swedish military officer Bertil Wedin, who has connections with South African security services, to 1986 murder of Prime Min Olof Palme; evidence was submitted to police by novelist Stieg Larsson before his death in 2004; Wedin denies his involvement in killing. MORE

Jan. 7, 2014

Judge Petrese B Tucker of United States District Court sentences Pennsylvania woman Colleen R LaRose, who used 'Jihad Jane' as an online alias, to 10 years in prison for her part in plan to murder Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, whose images of Prophet Muhammad offended Muslims. MORE

Dec. 22, 2013

Vandals in Sweden have, for the 27th time, burned down a giant straw goat meant to symbolize Christmas spirit; straw goat is a centuries-old Scandinavian yule symbol that preceded Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts. MORE

Nov. 7, 2013

Sweden, once a disproportionately dominant force in tennis, has long been in decline; Swedish men won dozens of Grand Slam events in the 1970s, '80s and early '90s, behind only the Americans, but have gained only one such victory in past 21 years. MORE

Jun. 21, 2013

Swedish court sentences Stanislas Mbanenande, ethnic Hutu from Rwanda who became Swedish citizen, to life in prison for his role in 1994 genocide in Rwanda. MORE

Jun. 16, 2013

Robert H Frank Economic View column compares America's health care system with Sweden's, noting that Swedish system performs superbly with greater government involvement than United States. MORE

May. 27, 2013

Bands made up mostly of young immigrants riot across cities throughout Sweden, setting buildings and cars ablaze in spasm of destructive rage over growing inequality; unrest shakes up country, which has a reputation for welcoming immigrants, and pushes it into center of Europe's heated debate about immigration and the tensions it causes during time of economic malaise. MORE

May. 23, 2013

Hundreds of young people riot for three days in immigrant neighborhoods of Stockholm, Sweden, apparently sparked by police killing of 69-year-old man wielding a machete in Husby, which prompted accusations of police brutality. MORE

May. 12, 2013

Danielle Pergament travel article on trip to province of Smaland in Sweden, for her first Swedish Midsummer Party in nearly two decades; event, usually held on Friday after summer solstice, is Swedish tradition that includes maypole, singing, smorgasbord of salty fish and glasses of beer and aquavit. MORE

Apr. 21, 2013

Op-Ed article by author Jonas Hassen Khemiri underscores problem of racism in Sweden, and cites as an example Beatric Ask, country's justice minister, who said those who had been racially profiled on subways were irrational for getting angry. MORE

Nov. 14, 2012

Stockholm Journal; preschool in Stockholm known as Nicolaigarden is attempting to avoid gender stereotypes, and even prohibits gender-specific pronouns; advocates praise school for its effort to blur gender lines and cement opportunities for both men and women but critics say issue of gender equality in Sweden has gone too far. MORE

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